The heavy wooden gates of Macia creaked as they prepared to close, the guards standing firm.
"We're closing the gate soon," one of them warned, voice steady. "If you go out now, we won't open it again—not until the lord's knights arrive."
Kisha froze, her heart pounding.
Behind the guards, the darkened sky trembled with distant roars and flashes of magic. The air buzzed with tension, every breath thick with fear and anticipation.
She clenched her fists, torn by the urge to run back outside and find Elvia. But her legs refused to obey. The weight of fear, responsibility, and cold logic tangled in her mind.
"I..." she muttered, biting her lip hard.
Suddenly, a flash of memory struck her—the fierce, wild man fighting among the monsters. Hazuki.
He was still out there. He had to be.
Her eyes darted toward the narrow gap between the closing gates.
"Please..." she whispered softly, barely daring to hope, "keep her safe..."
